The present invention is generally related to the field of garment hangers, and more specifically to collapsible garment hangers.
The necks of garments are sometimes overly stretched and damaged as a result of being removed from and placed on hangers in the conventional manner. The stretching usually occurs because the distance between the hanger arms is greater than the opening of the neck of the garment. To prevent damage, hangers must be separated from the clothing by reaching up through the body of the garment and manipulating the hanger down through the bottom. Or, if the garment is a button type, the necessary number of buttons must be undone before removal. If the article of clothing is removed by manipulating the hanger down through the body of the garment, the hook element is prone to damage the garment, this problem is particularly acute with knitted garments.
Because of the small necks of garments, some garment hanger manufacturers have made the arm-spans short enough to fit inside the neck of garments. The short span of these hanger arms causes the length of the arms to be inadequate for garment shoulder widths. Traditional hanger arms are either too short to adequately support the average garments shoulder length, or to wide to fit through the neck of the garment.
Prior inventions designed to solve the problem of clothes sliding off the hanger and to give adequate support to a garment have been relatively expensive, complicated, have not met with public approval, or have failed to adequately support garments. It is an object of the present invention to provide a garment hanger that overcomes these problems.
The present invention provides a collapsible clothes hanger wherein the garment supporting elements can be collapsed, such that garments can be removed from, and placed onto the hanger, with relative ease, as compared with traditional hangers. One embodiment of the present invention provides a collapsible garment hanger that includes a base, and a hook interconnected with the base. Further, two arms are provided, and each is connected pivotally at one end to the base. Finally, a spring element is configured to allow the arms to pivotally yield at the base, whereby, small-necked garments may be hung without damaging the garment. As used herein, the term: hang, hung or variants thereof, are understood to include both the hanging and the removal of a garment from a hanger.
In another embodiment of the invention the spring element is at least one helically wound spring. By collapsing the supporting elements the user facilitates the hanging of garments. In yet another embodiment, the undersides of the hanger arms are configured to function as housing for the spring elements. In another embodiment, one of the arms has a wider base on the underside then does the opposing arm, thus allowing the arms to mutually engage each other when the arms are in the collapsed position.
In yet another embodiment the collapsible arms are pivotally interconnected with the at least one spring by a pin that interconnects with the hook element. This pin rotatably joins the arms. The at least one spring arms extend along the underside of the collapsible supporting elements. Preferably the at least one spring is wound around the pin forming a helically wound spring. The at least one spring is configured to urge the collapsible supporting elements away from each other with sufficient force to allow the hanger to support the garment. In a preferred embodiment different colors may be utilized to indicate the appropriate garment weight range for a particular hanger.